Danger signs aren’t working to keep people out of polluted Taranaki rivers say some regional councillors.
‘Can I Swim Here?’ water testing at 16 popular river spots through summer found six ‘unsuitable for swimming’ most of the time.
The testing by Taranaki Regional Council found another six were ‘unsuitable’ or needed a ‘caution advised’ warning most of the time.
Just four rivers were safe for swimming more than half of the time.
The rivers were contaminated by E. coli bacteria, indicating faecal pollution, or by toxic algae feeding on nutrient runoff.
New Plymouth’s Te Hēnui Stream mouth and the lower Waiwhakaiho River were worst, with both under permanent health warnings due to poo from cows and waterfowl.
Waiwhakaiho swimming holes upstream at Meeting of the Waters and Merrilands Domain were unsafe more than half the time.
In South Taranaki, Kaūpokonui River at the beach domain had no safe days, and nearby Waingōngōrō River mouth tested safe just two days out of 22.
Other often-risky spots were the Waitara River bridge, Eltham’s Taumata Park, and the Pātea River at Stratford – with Everett Park near Inglewood, Ōākura’s Corbett Park and Tīmaru Stream only slightly better.
Intensive dairying dominates Taranaki land use, so poor freshwater quality isn’t new – but at last week’s TRC Policy and Planning Committee meeting some members were impatient for improvement.
Councillor Bonita Bigham asked if the council knew how effective – or not – warning signs are at keeping people out of the water.
“At the Kaūpokonui I’ve never seen anybody stop swimming, for any reason.
“The kids are always in that river – if it’s a fine day there’s someone in the river.”
TRC’s environment quality director Abby Matthews said people tend to notice a fresh sign but ignore it over time.
Vandalism was also a problem, Matthews said.
“In places that aren’t very open and public, [signs] often get smashed up and torn down.”
Te Kāhui o Taranaki iwi representative Tuhi-Ao Bailey said many swimming spots were contaminated by cows, not birds.
Farm pollution washes into waterways and Bailey said clear warnings to not swim for three days after rain were urgently needed.
“Can we do something else? Can we encourage intensive planting upstream?”
Councillor Susan Hughes called for Te Hēnui river mouth signs to tell people to stop feeding “loaf after loaf” to the ducks.
“It is probably the only place in New Plymouth where little kids could potentially enjoy the water and swim, and it’s too dangerous for them … because of all the duck crap.”
Matthews said TRC would work with district councils on signage suggestions but other methods likely had more impact.
“Social media, radio interviews and other things we do ... are probably more effective – schools, working with our education team.”
TRC chair Craig Williamson said pollution warnings had been a problem throughout his 16 years on council.
“We need to get that message out that if it looks unclean it probably is – if the seawater is brown don’t swim in it.”
Taranaki beaches are much less risky: the 17 testing sites were safe for swimming almost all the time.
Lakes were a mixed bag: Rotorangi and Ratapiko were almost always safe, and Rotokare and Ōpunakē unsafe about half the time – but Ngangana and Herengawe lakes were unsafe or under caution at every testing.
LDR is local body journalism funded by RNZ and NZ on Air
